PAST AND PRESENT
OF
MENARD COUNTY, ILLINOIS - 1905

Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company

Page 408

FRANK A. TERHUNE is numbered among Menard county's native sons, his birth having occurred June 16, 1869, on the old family homestead, where he now resides and where he owns and operates three hundred and forty acres of rich and valuable land. He is a son of James and Ann Elizabeth (Harrison) Terhune, who were natives of Kentucky. The father was a farmer by occupation and in 1853 left his native state for Menard county, Illinois. He located first at Petersburg, but soon afterward removed to Indian Point and subsequently purchased name near Curtis, where he began farming and stock raising. He made his home in that locality until his death, which occurred June 15, 1887, when he was fifty-six years of age, while his wife died April 6, 1885, at the age of fifty-five years.

No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for Frank A. Terhune in his youth. He was educated in the Curtis school and has always lived upon the old family homestead. His father died when the son was but eighteen years of age and he at once took charge of the farm in partnership with his brother C. L. Terhune. He has since conducted the home place with good result and in connection with the raising of the cereals best adapted to the soil and climate he is also successfully engaged in the breeding of Hereford cattle and Poland China hogs. He now owns three hundred and forty acres of land, all of which he cultivates. He has improved one hundred and eight acres of this and has placed his farm in excellent condition, keeping the buildings and fences in good repair and utilizing the latest improved machinery in the cultivation of his crops.

On the 16th of December, 1891, occurred the marriage of Frank A. Terhune and Miss Flora E. Spear, a daughter of G. G. Spear. She was born August 2, 1871, and is a graduate of the Greenview high school. Her father carried on general farming and stock raising on section 20, township 19. He was born in Vermont, October 6, 1836, and was the third in a family of seven children born unto Elisha and Lucretia (Walker) Spear, who came to this state in the fall of 1838, and were therefore early settlers of the county. George Spear was then but two years of age and upon the old family homestead he was reared and has resided thereon throughout his entire life.

In his youth he aided in the arduous task of developing a new farm and in later years he has carried on agricultural pursuits along the most progressive lines, using the latest improved machinery and equipping his place with modern accessories.

On the 6th of October, 1870 George Spear was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Dawson, who was born in Indiana, in October, 1841. They became the parents of three children: Flora, who was born August 2, 1871; Elva, born January 26, 1873; and Elisha G., born January 28, 1876. After his marriage the father continued farming on the old home place and is now the owner of a valuable tract of land of five hundred and forty acres. He has been very successful in his chosen life work and because of his unremitting diligence is now the possessor of a very fine property.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Terhune have been born two children: Francis Lee, born July 13, 1901; and Marshall Henry, whose birth occurred April 11, 1904. The parents are devoted members and active workers of the Presbyterian church of Greenview, in which Mr. Terhune is serving as one of the elders. His business interests are extensive and claim much of his time and attention, yet he has found opportunity to assist in the church work and to promote many enterprises for the general good. He realizes that the development of character is all that really counts in the world and while he has won success he has also made for himself an honorable name by reason of his straightforward methods and his justice to all in business transactions.